Sharp County record., 1887-12-15
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
King David's Thirst During a D"'-
tie With the Philistlnes'
The Refreshing Draur hit From the wen
of bethlehem Compared With the
Perpetual JOY Drawn From
the Well of the Gospel


II no witt Talmage at the Brooklyn TAP
ernacle was "Thirst in a CAVERN p'0
dicated on the following text'
Oh. that one would giveme drink OF tne "a.o,
NJ the we'll of Bethlehem, which is py Ine s"'0'
II. Samuel xiii, 10 ILL
War. always distressing, is especially
ruinous in harvest time. When tne crop0
are all ready for the sickle, to nave 'noi,
trodden down by cavalry horses an
heayv supply-trains outlying the heids'
Is enough to make any mans near. SIN
When the last great war broke out III Eu'
rope, and France and Germany were con-,
mo into horrid collision, l rode across
thar Golden harvests and saw their tenVS
nitcbed. and the trenches dug in the very
midst of the ripe fields, the long scythe Oh
battle sharpening to NOV down har'eSgs
of men in great winrows of the dead IL
uos ot this season of harvest that lne
army of the Philistines came down upon
Bethlehem. Hark to the clamor Oh tner
voices, the neighing of their chargers tne
blare of their trumpets, and the claSh ol
their shields! n,
Let David and his men fall back! Inc
Lords host sometimes loses the day. But
David knew where to hide. He had Deeh
brought up in that country. Boys are IN
ouisitiye, and they know all about the
region where they were born and brought
ND. If you should go back to the OLD nome,
stead, you could, with your eyes shut, hhu
vour wav to the meadow, or the orchard'
or the hill back of the house, with when
Won were familiar thirty or forty years
apo. So David knew the cave at Adullam.
Perhaps, in his boyhood days, he had
plaved ''hide.and- with his comrades
all about the old cave, and though otners
might not have known it, David dld.
Travellers say there is only one way OF
getting into that cave, and that IS py a
yerv narrow path; but David was stout'
and steady-beaded, and steady-nerVed,
and so, with his three brave statf-of1cers,
he goes along that path, finds his way
into the cave, sits down, looks around at
the roof and the dark passages OF the
mountain, feels very weary WIN tne
forced march; and water he must have or
die.
do not know but there may have been
drops trickling down the side of the cav
ern, or that there may have been some
water in the goat skin slung to his glrdle,
but that was not what he wanted. he
wanted deep, full, cold drink, such as
man gets only out of an old we'll with
moss covered bucket. David remembered
that very near that cave of Adullam there
was such well as that, we'll to which
he used to go in boyhood-the we'll OF
Bethlehem: and he almost imagines that
he can hear the liquid plash OF that well,
and his parched tongue moves through MS
hot lips as he says:
Oh that one would give me drink of the wa
ter of the well of Bethlehem which is by the
gate.
II was no sooner said than done. The
three brave staff officers bound to their
feet and start. Brave soldiers will take
even a hint from their commander.
nv ebAtyeep cntt aha what what
could three men do with a great army?
Yet where there is a will there is
way, and with their swords slashing this
way and that, they make their path to
the well. While the Phlistines are
amazed at the seeming foolhardiness of
these three men, and can not make up
their minds exactly what it means, the
three men have come to the well. They
drop the bucket. They bring up the
water. They pour it in the pail, and then
start for the cave. "Stop them !' cry the
Philistines. "Clip them with your
swords Stab them with your spears.
Stop those three menw Too late. They
have got around the hill. The hot rocks
are splashed with the overhowing water
from the vessel as it is carried up the
cliffs. The three men go along the dan
gerous path, and with cheeks flushed
with the excitement, and all out of breath
in their haste, to the side of the cave, and
cry out to David: 'There, captain of the
host, is what you wanted, a drink of the
we'll of Bethlehem, which is by the gate"
A text is of no use to me unless can
find Christ in it; and unless | can bring
gospel out of these words, that will
arouse and comfort and bless, shall wish
l had never seen them; for your time
would be wasted, and against my soul the
dark record would be made that this day
1 stood before great audience of SHINING,
suffering and dying men, and told them
of no rescue. BY the cross of the Son Of
God, by the throne of the eternal judg
ment, that shall not be! May the Lord
Jesus help me to tell you the truth to-
day!
My friends, we come to-day around the
Gospel well. We putt down our pack of
burdens, and our implements of toll. One
man must draw the waters for those who
have gathered around the well. will
try and draw the water to-day; and if,
after have poured out from this living
fountain for your soul, just taste of it
myself, you will not begrudge me
A drink from the water of the well of Bethle
hem, which is by the gate.
The Gospel well, like the we'll spoken of
in the text, is a well of Bethlehem. David
had known hundreds of wells of water,
but he wanted to drink from that particu-
lar one, and he thought nothing could
slake his thirst like that. And unless your
soul and mine can get access to the foun-
tain open for sin and uncleanness,
we must die. That fountain is the
we'll of Bethlehem. 1t was dug
in one night. 1t was dug by the light of
a lantern-the star that hung down
over the manger. 1t was dug
not at the gate of Cesar's
palaces, not in the park of a Jerusalem
bargain-maker. 1t was dug in barn.
The camels lifted their weary heads to
listen as the work went on. The shep-
herds, unable to sleep, because the heav-